His Student
by Leey-chan
Summary: This story is about a girl named Kairi who becomes the famous Itachi Uchiha's student. Kairi goes through many trials as his student, and faces many in her everyday life. Over time Kairi forms a bond with Itachi, the kind between a Sensei and student. However fate intervenes and "That night" separates them. Years later they will reunite and there will be happiness.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

"Will you be my student?" I continued to read the book that was in my lap.

"Excuse me?" I asked. The other genin were constantly pulling pranks on me, just because I wasn't assigned to a squad after graduation from the academy.

"Will you be my student?" asked the stranger. I sighed and marked the page I was on. Then I set it aside and looked up to meet my taunter. I gasped. Standing before me was Itachi Uchiha. I quickly regained my composure. Obviously this was just a trick. Nothing more. No way would Itachi Uchiha choose me to be his student. I studied him and he studied me.

Finally I asked,"Why would you choose me? I'm a failure in everyone's eyes. And how do I know you're the real Itachi Uchiha? I'm really tired of all your pranks, Kotoko." I said getting angrier by the minute.

"I am not Kotoko." he said. "I am choosing you to be my student because no one else will." I shake my head, obviously thinking this was still a trick, and that if this really were Itachi Uchiha then he wouldn't really choose me for his student. I mean there were much more worthy candidates to be his student anyways. Me? I was a failure.

"You show more promise than you realize." What the heck? It's like he was reading my thoughts or something. "It takes more than just skill and strength to be a ninja. It takes more than just following the book. You have to have heart. And you have more heart than anyone I have ever met." He looks me in the eyes. "Will you be my student?" he asks me again. For a moment I stood there, then as if in a trance (no it was not his genjutsu) I moved forward and joined Itachi.

"Th-thank you." I stammered. "This is more than I could have hoped for. To have an Uchiha as my teacher would be the greatest of honors, especially if that Uchiha is you."

"There is no need to thank me." he says, smiling a small smile, the kind that a sensei would give to their students whom they care deeply for.

"It's just that...no one has ever wanted me as their student because I was always considered a weak link."

"Then obviously they weren't seeing all of you. If they did then there would be so many people asking you to be their student." he replies. "Maybe one day you will see all of yourself too and hold your head up high. But for now we'll just work on improving what you're not good at and just keep moving forward when you make mistakes." His smile grows wider. It radiated a kindness that no teacher had ever shown me. "We'll show them what you're really made of."

I looked down and saw his hand reaching for mine. I hesitated, but only for a moment. I looked back up at him and returned his smile. My hand shaking his. I was now Itachi Uchiha's student.

Authors Note: I do not own any recognizable characters. My character in this chapter is Kairi.


	2. Chapter 2: His Student part 1

"We will start training tomorrow. Meet me by the memorial stone at seven." Itachi said. I nodded my head in agreement. With a wave of his hand he turned and left. A small breeze had picked up and gently tossed a few leaves around flying away towards Itachi, my new teacher. I breathed in deeply, reveling in this new found feeling that had blossomed within me while shaking his hand. The feeling of being accepted. I couldn't wait to start training tomorrow!

I walked back towards the bench I was sitting on earlier and grabbed my book. I looked at the worn down cover. The design was beautiful shades of green spiraling towards the unknown, with letters written in delicate form. It was called "あなたのためのメモリ"* or "A Memory for You". It's a story about a girl that was orphaned after her parents just up and left with all of their belongings when she was six. No one really wanted anything to do with her, so she lived alone. For 10 long years, she lived alone. Then one day as she was out tending to a small orchard she comes across a sleeping boy. The boy is very witty and kind. He visited the girl everyday. Soon the girl fell in love with the boy. Later they got married and were expecting their first child when he was called away to fight in a war.

After a year he came back and was reunited with the girl and their small bundle of joy. They lived happily for many years watching as their child grew up. One day, however as the girl tended to the orchard, she fell to the ground ill. The doctor said she only had a little longer left to live, so she would have to make the best of it.

The girl was sad to hear that she did not have long to live, for that meant she would be leaving her family behind. But she did as the doctor said and made the best of it. Each day was something new. The boy would bring her flowers, fresh fruit from the orchard, and small trinkets he found on the road. Each day he would say, "Be happy today, be happy tomorrow, be happy forever.".

And the girl would always reply with, "I am happy today, I will be happy tomorrow, I will be happy forever. I shall always keep this precious memory close to my heart." But to soon she was bedridden and had a fever that wouldn't go away. But still she continued to smile. Till one day she called the boy to her side.

"I love you." she said over and over. "Look in the last tree on the far right side of the orchard and there is my last gift to you." she sighed, and those were the last words she ever spoke.

The boy went to the the last tree in the orchard and found a small leather bound book inside the trunk. Inside the book were drawings, stories, and the most precious gift of all...her memories. On the last page of the book it said "A memory for you my love. Keep them close and never despair. Be happy today, be happy tomorrow, be happy for ever."

I love this story very much because I could relate to the girl in the very beginning. I was orphaned at age six as well. My parents didn't just up and leave me though, they disowned me. I've been alone for five years.

I snapped out of my revere. Blinking rapidly, I looked around. I sighed in relief. "_Good, Kotoko and her little gang hasn't found me yet._" I thought. She always had a habit of popping up out of nowhere if I stayed in one place for too long.

I began walking to my house, which was clear on the other side of the village. I decided I'd take the long route and stop by Ichiraku's for a bowl of ramen. I happened to have a couple of tickets today. The old man was always being generous to me in giving tickets for a free bowl, or in discounts. With my stomach growling at me to hurry up, I ran. And within a few moments I had reached Ichiraku's.I lifted the flap and walked in, letting the smells of pork and miso wash over me. Inhaling deeply, I walked over to a stool and sat down.

Ichiraku turned around and said, "Welcome to Ichiraku's, what can I get you?"

I laughed, "You should know by now what I want."

He laughs too, "Alright, one medium miso pork bowl coming right up!" He turned back around and began preparing my meal. I turned around in my seat to watch as people walked by. After a few minutes a small boy stopped by the shop.

"Aww come on!" he cried as he searched fervently through his pockets. "I know I have a ticket somewhere!" his stomach growled. I turned my head around just a little, so I could still keep my eyes on the boy.

"Hey Ichiraku!" I called.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Make it a double serving but in a large bowl!"

"Are you really hungry or something?" he asked in bewilderment.

"No but he is." I said. The boy looked up from his frantic searching. I nodded my head towards an empty seat next to me. Not wanting to pass up a free meal he scrambled towards the chair. Ichiraku turned around and served us our meal. I handed him two tickets.

"I'll be in the back. Just holler if you need anything." We nodded our heads.

Turning our attention back to our food we took our chopsticks and said, "Thank you for the food!" The little boy broke his chopsticks and said, "Chow time!" and he dug into his food like a ravenous wolf.

"Woah, slow down kid. You're gonna make yourself sick!" I cried.

He slowed down. "Thanks...for the...food...lady." he said between mouthfuls of ramen.

I smiled at him, "No problem! But my name isn't "lady" it's..." But I never got to finish my sentence, because then Kotoko and her lackeys Shina and Yuki walked in.

"Well look who it is." drawled Kotoko. "The failure Kairi." I ignore her and keep eating, signaling the boy to do the same. Thankfully he did, because he looked ready to attack the girls.

"Look at who she's got with her." snickered Yuki. The boy next to me stiffened. "She's hanging out with Uzumaki. Makes sense for a loser to hang out with another loser." she kept snickering. Her snicker was very annoying. It sounded like a dying hyena.

I shifted ever so slightly as to get a better look at the boy. He had tousled blond hair, big round blue eyes, and little whisker thingys on his face. This was definitely Naruto Uzumaki. And you know what? I didn't care if I was eating lunch with him, or anyone else for that matter. Naruto was another person like me. I turned around to face Kotoko.

"You know what I hate?" I asked her. Before she could say anything, I answered my own question. "Your condescending attitude. I don't care what you think about me, I can take whatever it is you dish out, but leave Naruto alone." I stared at them calmly as I watched their smug looks get replaced by confusion at my sudden change of attitude.

"Well...you're still both failures!"blustered Shina. "You still don't have a teacher and he's...well...um...he's Naruto!"

"Well I've got news for you. I do have a teacher. And you can't call Naruto a failure just for being himself Your arguments are so weak." I paused. "Now if you don't mind, we're trying to eat here so go away." Kotoko glared at me. Then she turned around and stalked out. Shina and Yuki trailing after her.

We were silent for a minute. Then Naruto turned and stared at me really hard. Then he asked,"Who were they?"

"The one with the really long, orange hair and blue eyes is Kotoko. The one with short, spiked, brown hair is Shina. And the one with shoulder length, purple hair is Yuki." I said, slightly uncomfortable having to discuss them.

I turned around and ate some more of my ramen, even though my appetite had left me. Naruto did the same. He chewed his ramen slowly and thoughtfully. He then tipped his bowl and finished the last of his ramen. He set the bowl down and turned to me again.

"Um..thanks for defending me.." He scratched the back of his head and looked down. Was he being bashful? He looked up again and grinned.,"And thank you for the food!" He then scrambled down his chair and ran out of the shop. I hurried up and finished my food yelled my goodbyes to Ayame and Ichiraku. Then I left the shop and went to my house.


	3. Chapter 3: His Student part 2

My house wasn't really a house per say, more like a tree house. But it was a place to live none the less. I kicked the trunk and a ladder tumbled down. The little machine off to the side of the tree was only used to bring the ladder up, which was really irksome because I've injured my feet one to many times getting the ladder down. I climbed up and opened the trap door at the bottom. The inside was small and could probably hold only three people at a time and still have enough room to move around. I had two windows. One looking over the village, and another looking over the mountains. A grey futon was placed over in the back left corner while a small cabinet and dresser hung out in the other corner. And to liven it up a little I had a rug placed by the trapdoor. Other than that, the place was pretty bare.

With a small sigh I moved over to the dresser and placed "A Memory for You" in the bottom drawer next to a couple other books. Closing the drawer, I moved away from the dresser. I took off my close fitted shirt to reveal a huge bandage going around and around from my chest to my waist. Small red blotches had begun to form along my abdomen.

"_Dang it! It's bleeding again._" I thought. The other day I was practicing my combat skills near a cliff...and well you can tell where that went. I pressed hard on the area that was bleeding so as to make it stop. After a few moments I pulled my hand away. Now to remove the stained bandages and apply the healing salve.

I don't know what the healing salve is made up of, but I hate it. It smells too strongly of herbal medicines and burns like crazy. Then after it's finished burning, it begins to itch. Then after it's finished itching, it turns that spot into an ice cube! The list of things wrong with the salve goes on and on, but at least it does what it's meant to do. After I apply the salve I redress the wound, binding it tightly. I then grab the t-shirt that was lying on my futon and pull it over my head. I gently ease myself into the futon and lean against the wall.

So much had happened today. First I was just reading my book when Itachi had showed up asking me to be his student. Then I actually accepted his offer! Then I had lunch with Naruto, and I defended him! Him, the boy who was always painting the Hokages faces. Him, who was always scorned by the adults. Him, who always sat on the swing outside the academy alone. Questions began to flood my mind. Why was Naruto treated this way? Why couldn't people just ignore the prankster side of him and actually give him a chance? Of course then my mind wandered onto bigger topics like world peace. After a good solid twenty minutes of thinking I sighed and went to sleep. I am going to have to get up early if I'm going to meet Itachi at the memorial stone.

I woke up around 6:15. I quickly pulled on a fresh shirt and grabbed my pouch. Inside the pouch were scrolls, kunai, and shuriken. I strapped it to my thigh and grabbed a bit of money. Then i climbed down the ladder. At the bottom I kicked the lever and watched the ladder go up. Then I walked into the village. First I stopped by Sochi's Onigiri shop and purchased a couple of onigiri* for breakfast and lunch. Then I quickly made my way towards the Yamanaka's flower shop.

I opened the door to hear a small wind chime. The sent of flowers was very sweet. I moved around the shop and picked a small bouquet compromised of daisies, tulips and a daffodil. I then went to the counter to pay for the flowers. And surprisingly enough, little Ino was there.

"Shouldn't you still be asleep?" I asked.

"Nope. I wanted to work the shop today, so I had to get up early." she said, grinning at me.

"Well then, I would like to purchase these flowers please." I handed her the money.

"So what are you doing up this early?" Ino asks me.

"I'm heading up to the memorial stone to meet my teacher." I reply.

"You have a teacher now? How wonderful! Who is it? Are these for your teacher?" Ino talks a little too rapidly, but I can tell she thinks I'm a girl in love with her sensei.

"No these aren't for my teacher, silly.I'm going to put them on the memorial stone." I say, scolding her for thinking up things that would never happen. "And as for who my teacher is," I lean close. "it's Itachi Uchiha!"

Ino squeals,"Sasuke's brother is your teacher?!" I grin and nod. She squeals again. Ino adored Sasuke and whenever she ran the shop and I was there, that's all she would talk about. I decided now would be a good time to leave, before I got stuck listening about Sasuke. I waved my hand and exited the shop.

I reached the memorial stone withe a little bit of extra time to spare. I walked forward and kneeled down on the ground. The morning dew from the grass seeped into my pants, causing me to shiver. Taking the small offering of flowers, I placed them gently down.

"_Thank you, and rest in peace._" I thought. I leaned back so as to read the names of fallen heroes. _Ayato Mikuni, Tenma Hoshima, Haruka Kanata*, Kaito Ichiban..._ I slowly reached out and ran my hand over the names. A hand brushed my shoulder. I whipped my head around flinging my red hair behind me. No one was there. I stood up quickly, Itachi should be here any minute now. Or was he already here? Was it him that touched my shoulder? Was he testing me? I reached into my pocket for a kunai, all the while listening intently for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing. I moved around looking everywhere. I was not going to let my teacher down on the first day.

"Kairi!" called a voice from the other side of the cemetery. There by the gate was Itachi waving me over. I walked over quickly. On the way over my excitement began to bubble. I was going to train with the Uchiha prodigy! The boy who joined the Anbu at age thirteen. It's only been a year since. I'm slightly ashamed to admit it, but as I am only an eleven year old* girl, I began to fan girl internally.

Itachi, obviously sensing my excitement, said, "We're going to go on our first mission today. It won't be anything too dangerous, just delivering a message to the Hidden Sand." I think he was preparing himself to see me looking crestfallen, not stoked to be going on this mission. I wouldn't have cared if we were just finding a lost pet, I was going on a mission! I had to hold still and contain myself, but you could still see me shaking in excitement.

"Meet me at the front gate in half an hour." he grinned. I nodded my head and ran back to my tree house.

**Author's note: **I have astrids placed by words. His Student:part 1-the kanji/katakana is pronounced "Anata no tame no memori"

His Student part 2- Onigiri means riceball, Haruka Kanata; from pre-shippuden ;), Kairi's age is not my age I had to choose a young enough age since Itachi is about 14; that means Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura etc. are about 8, Kairi's hair is red but she isn't an Uzumaki.

Pleas leave me reviews! I adore them, and would really appreciate it.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any recognizable characters! All **Naruto **characters belong to Kishimoto-sensei!


	4. Chapter 4: Path to the Hidden Sand

In half an hour Itachi and I were on our way to the Hidden Sand. It would take three days to get there. And I was going to love every minute of it. This was my first time leaving the village, so I was a little hyper. I was bouncing every where on the path. The agreement was that I could explore as long as he could still see me. And boy did I explore. I was like a dog! (Well minus the whole sniff everything deal.) All the while Itachi just walked along, smiling at me.

After a little while I settled down and joined Itachi. It was pretty quite. I didn't know what to talk about really, and I don't think he did either. So we just listened to the sounds of nature for a while. It was nice, honestly. I didn't really need to talk to Itachi to feel like this. I was content with where I was.

Although after a little while my curiosity got the best of me. So I asked, "What is the message that we're supposed to deliver to the Hidden Sand?" He glanced at me.

He sighed, "I'm sorry, I can't tell you until we're almost there. This message is really confidential and can do more harm than good if it were to get into enemy hands." He gave me an apologetic look. I stretched forward, hands behind my back. I looked at him and smiled.

"It's okay if you can't tell me yet. I'm just happy to be going. That's all that matters." He smiled back.

"I think we're far enough from the village that we can start picking up the pace now." he said, turning his attention back to the road. "When it gets closer to nightfall we'll stop and rest, then we'll discuss strategies." Discuss strategies? I leaned back and relaxed. Then we were off, practically flying through the trees. The wind whipping our hair back, stinging our faces, it felt so good.

We stopped in a grove to rest for the night. Itachi set up traps while I unpacked the sleeping bags. I also gathered some wood for a fire. I arranged it neatly and placed rocks around it. Itachi came back from his patrol and used his fire style to light a fire. The flames danced to and fro in an entrancing way. I sat there, curled up with my head resting on my arms. You know when you sit and watch flames dance around for a while that you start to fall asleep? Yeah, I jerked upright because Itachi scared me when he started to talk.

He looked at me, clearly startled by my reaction. I rubbed my eyes and nodded for him to just keep talking. He cleared his throat and said, "When we reach the border we're going to have to be extra careful. There is a dangerous organization that may try to stop us from delivering the message. Our fail safe plan is that if we're ambushed I'll transfer the message to you and you'll have to go on without me."

I stared at him in shock. He said this mission wouldn't be that dangerous. Dots began to connect in my mind. I'm not sure how, but I was pretty good at deducing what a problem was when a straight answer wasn't given. He'd said that the mission wouldn't be too dangerous, just delivering a message. But the message could be very dangerous in the wrong hands. A wicked organization would no doubt try to stop us from delivering it. If the message had something to do with this organization then it was very possible that this organization was a threat to the Hidden Sand.

I looked right into Itachi's eyes and said, "This organization is planning on attacking the Hidden Sand and we're going to warn them beforehand, aren't we?"

"Th-that's some sharp deduction skills." stutters Itachi.

"So I'm right then?" I say, accusation is slowly filling my voice. Why was I feeling betrayed? "_Probably because no one likes to tell you the whole story before a mission, which thus causes you to fail._" A small evil voice popped into my head. Poisonous thoughts flared across my mind as I remembered the last, and the first mission, I had gone on.

"Look Kairi, I'm.." Itachi started apologize, but I cut him off by standing up and glaring at him.

"If you had read my report, you'd have known why I failed my last mission." I turned around.

"Kairi! I.."

"If this partnership is to last then we need to start trusting each other. That means you need to tell me everything before a mission." I walk towards my sleeping bag and lay down. I made sure I wasn't facing him. I couldn't stop them, tears came out slowly. Guilt clawed at my heart, making it hurt. I didn't like getting mad at others, even if there was a good reason to be mad. But that was only half of the guilt. The image of a broken body in my arms, dying, is what nearly killed me.

As I drifted off into a restless slumber, I heard Itachi whisper, "I'm sorry Kairi. I'm sorry."

The next day just flew by, and so did we. We were only a couple miles from the border when we stopped to rest for the night. It was another restless night of sleep again.

On the third morning Itachi woke me up and said, "From here on we have to be careful. We are near the border now." I nodded my head and after we packed up, we were off.

The silence was unbearable. Not only between me and Itachi but all around us. Any minute we could be attacked. I was a bit on edge because of it. So when I touched down on a tree branch, I landed a little to close to the edge, and fell. And the landing wasn't a very soft one.

"Ughh." I moaned. Something shifted to my left and it wasn't Itachi. I opened my eyes and was greeted by a group of men with hidden faces staring at me.

"It's a girl." said one man, his voice was kind of squeaky.

"Yes it is. And she's a ninja from the Hidden Leaf, no less." said another man, his voice much deeper and gravelly. "And judging from the direction she was traveling in before she fell, I'd say she was headin' for the Hidden Sand." I couldn't see his face, but I knew he was smiling an evil smile. I managed to get into a crouching position. I was about ready to try and make an escape when suddenly a man lunged away from the group and hurtled towards me. I was slammed into a tree, the man gripping my throat and squeezing tightly. Blood trickled out of my mouth.

"I believe you have a message for us?" the man growled.

"I...*cough*..don't...have...a clue...what...you're talking..." I stopped talking and focused on just trying to breathe. The man threw me down. I coughed violently.

Just then Itachi dropped down from the trees and landed in front of me. "I had turned around to see if you were keeping up, and you weren't there." He turns his head to look at me. Anger was blazing in his eyes. But the anger wasn't meant for me, it was meant for the men who hurt me. He turned back to face the faceless men. They all took a step back, a collective murmur spread through the group, "Uchiha." My guess is that Itachi had revealed his Sharingan.

I stood up, my breathing returning to normal. I pulled out several shuriken and kept my hand behind my back waiting for Itachi's signal. _BOOM!_ Several paper bombs went off simultaneously. Somehow, Itachi had set the traps and set them off without anyone noticing. Quickly I let the shuriken fly free, knowing that only a few would find their mark. Itachi then grabbed my hand and we ran.

The trees were more scarce here, which meant we were at the border. I put a little chakra into my feet so as to run faster. About ten men were following us. Itachi swerved and swung me forward, a kunai just barely missing my back. I landed on a branch and threw some more shuriken, taking down two men in the process. Itachi was almost caught up to me. I stretched out my hand so as to catch him. instead he made hand signs and the tip of his finger glowed with chakra. He pointed his finger at my outstretched hand. The chakra flew and hit me full force. He had transferred the message to me.

"GO!" he shouted. I didn't want to leave Itachi behind, but I was useless here, and the message had to reach the Hidden Sand before these men did. So I turned and ran like I had never run before.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any recognizable characters. My characters are Kairi and the masked men! All **Naruto **characters belong to Kishimoto-sensei!


	5. Chapter 5: Battle in the Desert

It was getting really hot. I had run out of trees, and was now slipping all over the sand. I couldn't run fast enough, especially over hills. I always slid down those, even if I used a bit of chakra to help. Although I did actually gain some distance. I could just barely see the village of the Hidden Sand on the horizon. I kept running.

A kunai flew past me, with a paper bomb attached to it. It exploded and sent me flying off to the side. I sat up coughing up mouthfuls of sand. I looked in the direction the kunai came from. Over a sand dune came one of the men with hidden faces. I got up again and ran. He slid down the dune. I pumped my legs super hard and made it over the next three dunes before I started to slow down from exhaustion. I glanced behind me. The man was gaining.

I pulled out one of my scrolls and concentrated my chakra. I tossed it up in the air and a cloud of smoke appeared. "Smoke Demon, ATTACK!" The cloud of smoke rushed towards the garbed man and began surrounding him in a thick veil of darkness. This was a very easy genin jutsu and could be broken rather quickly, but hopefully it would by me some time. I began to run again. The village was becoming more clear. Closer. I trained my eyes on the village. I made it my goal to reach. There was no way I was going to get caught when I was so close to my goal.

But that isn't how it always works. I noticed the snake to late. It tangled around my legs, tripping me.

"Ahh!" I gasped as I went tumbling down the sand dune. I came to a stop at the bottom. I then began to wrestle with the reptile that was tangled around my legs. "Get off of me!" I said through gritted teeth. The wretched thing hissed at me. Then untangled itself from me and slithered up the slope. Right back into the waiting hands of the garbed man. He petted it and whispered something into it's...ear?..and it vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Nice try. But you're gonna have to do better than that if you want to make it alive in the ninja world." The man cackled. His voice was familiar. He was the one who had slammed me against the trunk.

I gathered as much chakra as I could at the bottom of my feet. Then I leaned back and released it all. I went soaring over the next two dunes, and landed on my shoulder at the bottom of the last one. I staggered upright and kept running. But the man kept gaining. I rapidly climbed the next dune. The Hidden Sand was so close! If only I could run faster... The man tackled me and we went rolling into the next little valley of sand. I kneed him in the stomach. He rolled off of me. I stood up was no way I could make it there now without something going terribly wrong. However, I'm pretty sure I saw sentries on top of the large wall. If I could just get their attention then I would have a lot better chance at beating this guy than I would alone.

Pain wracked my left leg. A shuriken was sticking out from it. I pulled out one of my kunai's and threw it at the man. He dodged them easily. "What is this? Child's play?" he taunted. He was trying to get me angry, which would cause me to make a mistake. Not gonna happen. After throwing a few more kunai, I ran at him to retrieve my kunai. He thought I was charging him and he dodged me, which was his mistake. As soon as my hand closed around the kunai I flung it with all my might at him. It caught him dead center in his right arm.

He howled. Crap. _I made him mad_. This wasn't good. He ripped the kunai out of his arm and flung it aside, blood drizzling downward staining the sand below. He took a step forward and the earth shook. The surrounding sand dunes were lowered. I could see the village now. I new it would be hopeless, but I tried to run leaped and caught my arm, using my velocity against me. I jerked backwards hard and I heard a loud POP! My shoulder was now dislocated. Tears flowed down my face because the pain was so intense. He let that arm drop and kicked my legs out from underneath me.

"I wanna hear you scream! Beg for mercy!" he growled. A wild and crazed look was in his eyes. I had just the luck to get a psychopath to chase me.

He stomped hard on my right leg. CRRUNCH! "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" I screamed as loud as I possibly could. Yes it hurt. Well, hurt is an understatement. It killed. But I was trying to get the other ninja to notice and help me.

He dug his heel in even harder. "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" This time I almost blacked out from the pain. He leaned down. I used the opportunity to poke him in the eyes, since that's all I was capable of doing at the moment.

"GAGHH!"

I stood up even though I shouldn't have. I applied all of my weight onto my left leg. From my pouch I took two small green spheres and tossed them in the air. Then I took my two remaining shuriken and threw them at the green spheres. FOOM! They exploded in a green cloud. There is no way they could miss that. I looked over at the man, who was rubbing his eyes. Then I began to hobble away as best as I could. I didn't get far. He grabbed my hair and pulled me back. And as I was falling he punched me in my gut. I felt a ripping sensation, and then hot liquid began to flood everywhere. I looked down. My wound had opened and I was loosing a lot of blood.

The man made some hand signs. _Nezumi, Tori, Saru_*. And he placed his hand over my eyes. He lifted his hand away from my face.

"What did you do?" I croaked.

"I don't usually like my victims watching me as I kill them." he said, pulling a knife from a hidden strap on his leg. The edges of my vision were going black. I couldn't move, all my energy was drained. He raised his knife. "_I hope you meet a worse end than I do._" I thought bitterly. Suddenly he dropped the knife. He held his hand as he looked around. Four Sand ninjas stood on top of the dune. They split apart and attacked the man simultaneously. My vision dimmed even further. I wasn't sure if it was his jutsu of if I was just blacking out. More ninjas arrived. One came over to me and picked me up. He then sped off towards the village. Before my sight was completely gone, I held up my hand and showed him the message. Then everything was black.

**Author's Note: **Nezumi+rat, Tori=bird, Saru=monkey. I chose these ones because the rat steals sight through disease, the bird pecks out the eyes, and the monkey sees no evil. I really had to brainstorm on that one. And don't forget, reviews please!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any recognizable characters! My characters are Kairi, the masked men, and the unidentified Sand Ninja.


	6. Chapter 6: The Hidden Sand Village

I bolted upright breathing hard. I opened my eyes. Or I thought I did, everything was still so dark. I lifted my hands to my face. There were bandages over my eyes. I panicked. "_Where am I? Why can't I see?_" I thought. I angled myself so I could get off the bed. I stumbled forward, my breathing labored. I kept going with my arms outstretched in front of me. I stopped for a moment to assess myself.

Both of my legs were fine, my right one was only tightly bound with bandages. And the arm that got dislocated was in a sling I felt along my abdomen and traveled upwards a bit. I had new stitches. Suddenly something small tackled my legs. And another. And another! "Ahh" I cried as I went down.

"You shouldn't be up." said a little girl's voice.

"You need to stay in bed resting." chided a boy's voice.

The third on just said, "Mm hmm."

"Who are you? And can you please get off of me?" I asked in bewilderment.

"I'm Temari." said the girl's voice, she slipped off my legs.

"I'm Kankuro." said the stern boy's voice, he slipped of my legs. "And this is our little brother Gaara." he said as more weight slipped off my legs. Two of them took my hand and helped me to my feet. Then they guided me back to the bed.

"You were out for a couple of days." says Temari, filling me in on what happened after I blacked out. "Itachi's been waiting for you to wake up." I snapped my head in her direction.

"Itachi is here? He's okay?"

"Yeah. He's fine." said Kankuro. "Come on Gaara. Let's go tell the healer's she's awake." I sat on the edge of the bed and waited. I was so tense that I practically radiated it. I was in a different village/hospital, I had no idea what was going on around me, and I couldn't see._Step, step, step_. Footsteps approached. I felt Temari jump off the bed and stand up straight. The healer must be here.

"Well Kairi, we're glad that you're awake." said a crisp female's voice. "You suffered quite a bit of damage. Luckily we were able to repair most of it."

"_Most of it?_" I repeated nervously.

"Yes, well..." The healer stepped closer and placed her hands on my head. I jerked back a bit. She stopped and the proceeded to unwind the bandage from my head. "We are still having problems with the jutsu that was placed over your eyes." the bandage was removed and I still couldn't see anything. I could sense the light from the room, but I couldn't see it. I couldn't see the healer that was in front of me. And I couldn't see Temari either. Tears began to prickle at the corners of my eyes. I couldn't keep being a ninja if I was blind.

I heard running. _Tapapa-tapapa, tapapa-tapapa_. More than one person too. I clasped my hands in my lap and began to rub them together. I was a bit anxious about who was coming. The running feet skidded to a halt at the door. Their breathing was labored.

"Boys, you should know better than to run in a hospital." chided the healer. I could only imagine that she had her hands on her hips with a "No nonsense" look on her face.

"Sorry Kagura-sensei." wheezed Kankuro. "But when Itachi heard...he just...took off!" The next thing I know is that I'm being pulled into a tight embrace. I was shocked at first, but then I returned his hug. He began to shake and I felt hot tear drops fall onto my shoulder. I hugged Itachi tighter.

"Come on children, let's leave them alone for a bit." whispered the healer-I mean Kagura.

For a while we stayed just like that, embracing each other. It was like we were frozen in time and we just refused to move. The tears had also started to pour like a waterfall from me. Together we cried in relief, in happiness that we were both alive. Finally Itachi pulled away. He gently cupped my face in his hands and wiped my tears away. I slowly reached for his face. He guided my hands and I dried his tears with my sleeves. We both laughed. Then we were quiet again.

"I'm a horrible teacher, aren't I?" he asked. Before I could protest, he said, "I should have told you everything before the mission, but I thought it would work better if you didn't know. And then I didn't keep my eyes on you...And I let that man get by me as I fought the others."

"Itachi, this is your first time teaching someone other than your brother, right?" I asked.

"Yes.." he answered.

"Then you're bound to make mistakes. You can't expect everything to go right on the first try. So don't beat yourself over this."

"But my mistakes could have gotten you killed." he argued. I stopped. He was right. I could have been killed.

"You're right. But don't dwell on "could have's" and "what if's". I didn't get killed because I had a goal I was striving for. To reach the Hidden Sand and deliver the message. And..." I hesitated."...to make you proud to have a student like me." He was silent.

Then he said, "This is what I meant when I said you had heart. You truly are a good person with good goals. You care more about others than you do yourself. Like when you defended Naruto from those girls."

_Shock! Dun, dun, dun!_ "How did you know about that? And that was after I became your student too." I questioned him.

"Yes it was, but it's the perfect example." He explained. "I've been watching you for a while, in an effort to find a student. Your kindness is what influenced me to choose you, not your skills, or your past. The fact that you would be kind to someone who was an outcast to the rest is what I want from my student." My jaw dropped. He had been watching me? I thought back to all the times I thought I was being watched. It was Itachi all along? I didn't know how to deal with this tidbit of information. Thankfully though, a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in." I called.

"We're going to discuss the living arrangements." said Kagura, wasting no time getting to the point.

"Living arrangements?" I inquired.

"Yes, well..." Itachi muttered. "I won't be able to stay for too long, but I can't take you with me. It would be to hazardous."

"We have arranged with the Hokage and Kazekage for you to stay here so we can lift the jutsu on your eyes." Kagura informed. "You will get to stay in this room and recuperate. Now Itachi if you will come with me, we have more things to discuss." Itachi squeezed my shoulder and left with Kagura. I flopped backwards onto the bed and sighed. I was going to stay in the place that did not belong to me. I was going to have healers I did not know fix my eyes. But the one thing that gnawed at me was the fact that I was going to be alone in this strange world. _Alone forever..._whispered a faint memory. I put my arm over my eyes and sighed. I didn't know if I could last very long here.

**Author's Note: **I had been asked before about Gaara's relationship with his siblings in this chapter. Right now is just a standstill point. Everyone is tolerating him, so he is just there. They are also just using good manners seeing as how Kairi is a from a different village.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any recognizable characters! My characters in this chapter are Kairi and the healer Kagura.


	7. Chapter 7: Of Despairing Memories

Itachi came to say goodbye to me the next day. It was kind of sad. He didn't really want to leave me here in an unfamiliar place, especially since I couldn't see my surroundings. I didn't want him to leave for the exact same reasons. The healers allowed me to go to the gate to bid him farewell, but they made such a fuss over my eyes and who would escort me back. Finally they came to the decision that I would have bandages over my eyes and they would have one of the ninjas from the patrol unit escort me back.

"Just do what the healers tell you to and I'm sure they'll have your sight back in no time." said Itachi, patting my head.

"If that's the case then I should be leaving with you instead of staying here." I grumbled, low enough that the Sand ninja couldn't hear.

"What was that?" Itachi asked sweetly. It was that kind of sweetly that scared little kids who said something they shouldn't have.

"Y-yes Itachi! I'll do just that." I said, slightly creeped out he was using this tactic on me.

"Good girl." he said, pulling me in for another hug. "I'm leaving now."

"Bye!" I called knowing he was already speeding off into the desert. I waved my hand, wondering if he could see me. The wind whistled by. It was very quiet. The patrol ninja wasn't here yet, so I just sat down. The ground was warm and felt good to my cold hands. I couldn't help it, I sighed. I sighed in boredom, sadness, and pleasure. Suddenly I was lifted into the air by the Sand ninja.

"Kyaa!" I cried. "A little warning before hand please!"

"Sorry." said a rather pleasant voice. "I'll take you back to the hospital now." And we were off. The dry air blew my hair backwards. No doubt it was getting tangled up in little knots that would take me forever to untangle. I tightened my hold on the ninja's neck as he sped up.

I spent HOURS getting poked and prodded at after I returned back to the hospital. They tested my other physical problems before they started working on my eyes again. They made sure that my legs functioned properly. I walked backwards and forwards. Bended my knees. Stretched them. Yep, still they worked on the arm that got dislocated. There were some problems with it. For instance, when removed from the sling it just hung at my side. I couldn't do much with it. I mean, I could still move my fingers, but the arm itself was useless. Also if it didn't have any support after about five minutes, it would begin to throb with copiousness amounts of pain.

There was lots of scribbling sounds going on too. Always, after I was told to do something there would be this _skritch, skritch_ sound. It was one of the most annoying sounds I have ever heard, and I realized I was going to be hearing these sounds a lot in my stay at the Hidden Sand. Something threatened to snap in the back of my mind. Never in my life have I hated anything related to medical stuff than I have now.

"All right Kairi." said Kagura. "We'll finish off with this one last thing for today." I heard shuffling feet and felt a hand covering my eyes. The hand was removed and at first everything was still dark. Then a prick of light entered my vision. Then another and another, until I could see a swirling mass of light. Four of them to be exact.

"We have placed another jutsu on your eyes allowing you to see the chakra of others." said a firm male voice. One of the lights wobbled a bit, indicating that that's who was talking. "We will leave you for now. Rest well." Then they all filed out the door, or at least that's what I can assume.

I sighed. Although I could now see the chakra of other's, I still wouldn't be able to continue the life of a shinobi. I needed my arm to start functioning properly. I need to be able to see fully too. Seeing just chakra won't be enough. I'm no Hyuuga.

I walked slowly towards the direction my bed was in. My knees gently bumped against the edge, and I flopped forward. How was I supposed to live my life now? I had already decided on being a shinobi, I had set my sights on getting my headband, on helping to contribute to my village. But even in that aspect I had completely failed. All I had managed to do was demote my village and myself. I crawled under my blankets. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying hard to not let the roiling storm inside me breach my gate. I shuddered, my breathing becoming ragged. A tear slipped down the side of my nose and I heard a small plunk on the pillow. Tonight was not going to be a fun night.

_The wind whipped my ponytail back and forth as we rushed into the night. The surrounding area was silent, too silent. I looked at my nakama, flying as silently and swiftly as I was. I had arrived late which caused a delay in the mission's schedule, and I only knew we were just delivering a message. Yui had promised to tell me the plan in detail while we traveled, but I guess that won't be happening any time soon. _

_Our squad leader, Kasai Orashi, motioned for everyone to veer left. I had no idea why, but I did as my squad leader said. To my right, Hitabi Tenma, pulled out several shuriken and was poised for an attack. What was going on? Everyone was so tense for just delivering a message. I get the feeling that with my luck my first mission is probably not going to end well. _

_We stopped and made camp. With my other team mates on edge, it made me a bit jumpy. Every shadow could be hiding a potential enemy. I almost killed a rabbit because of it. Sleep wasn't very easy to come by either, so I was ready to go when it was my turn to watch. I settled down on top of a tree branch overlooking the camp and surrounding area. It was quiet. Extremely quiet. I couldn't take it anymore. I slid down the tree and stood there. _

_Suddenly a hand closed around my mouth. "Mmph!" I cried. I was dragged backwards. _

_"Just don't move and nothing will happen!" said a boy, probably a teenager. "We just want the letter and you can go." This guy was obviously trying to be as gentle as he could with me, but still try and appear the superior enemy. More ninjas rushed by us, they were going to storm the camp! I jerked upwards and then used the moment to bite his hand. His hand stayed steady and did not budge. I screamed through his hand. I bit it again, this time harder. He gasped and moved his hand just an inch, but that was all I needed. I screamed in the highest pitch I could manage. He quickly covered my mouth again, but the damage had been done. I had alerted my nakama of the enemy. But I had done it too late. _

_The boy held me there, and I watched as my nakama battled with the enemy shinobi. Tears streamed down my face. I longed to escape from this boy's grasp and join the fray, but I was too weak. "It's best if you stayed here anyways. Or else the same would happen to you." the boy whispered as my nakama battled without me. _

_The first to go down was Hitabi. He had blocked too late and he received a piercing wound to his side. I couldn't tell if he was still alive or not. Then Kasai. He battled fiercely,but his back was exposed to the enemy and he got hit with a paper bomb. And the last to fall was Yui. She battled like a demon of the wind, her white hair whipping to and fro. But with the others defeated, she was severely out numbered. With the tables so drastically turned there was no way she was going to make it. They converged upon her and pinned her down. With such harsh brutality one ninja took his kunai and impaled her in the stomach. A dark rage bubbled in my stomach. It spread outwards, circulating from my whole body until I pulsed with black energy. I blacked out. Then I was back again. I was alone. So I ran to my fallen comrades. Kasai was...and Hitabi was unconscious. _

_"K-Kairi..." whispered Yui. I ran to her side. "I'm sorry...for not saying anything." tears trickled down her face and into her hair. She held my gaze for a moment and then looked the stars above us. I held her broken, dying, body in my arms. _

_"D-don't go!" I said, tears of my own forming in my eyes. "Please!" I pleaded, knowing there was nothing I could do to stop her. _

_"It hurts. It hurts a lot." she gasped, pain filling each and every word. "When I join them though it shouldn't hurt anymore, though." her eyes glued to the stars now. _

_"N-no!" I pleaded even more. _

_"Don't beat yourself up over this, Kairi." she sighed. Her breathing slowed, then stopped. Her eyes became glassy. _

_"NOO!" I screamed. I cradled her in my arms and cried._

"Noo!" I cried as I bolted upright. Sweat trickled down my brow. Well, I was covered in sweat. My breathing was ragged, and my heart was racing. Tears were streaming down my face. I buried my head in my hands. I sniffled and rubbed my eyes.

I looked up to see a blinding force of chakra in front of me and squeaked, "Eek!" and backed up into the wall. I slammed my head against it.

"You're scared of me too." said a little boy's voice. I placed my head between my knees and held the back of it.

"I-it's not that. You just startled me is all. I'm still trying to get used to this new jutsu on my eyes." The back of my head throbbed. The boy had just shown up out of nowhere! "Who are you?" I asked. I feel like I've already met him, but I just couldn't remember.

He hesitated then said, "My name is Gaara." And then it clicked. He was Temari and Kankuro's little brother. He was the third person that tackled me yesterday.

"Well Gaara, please don't just show up like that. Especially right after someone wakes up. That will scare anyone." I say. My head has finally stopped throbbing and I'm able to lift it up again. I look at the boy's chakra. There was something off about it, but I wasn't to worried about it at the moment.

"So...you aren't scared of me then?" he asked. What? What did that have to do with anything?

"Umm, no." I said slowly. "What are you doing here anyways? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"I can't." He said simply. No hesitation whatsoever.

"Why not?" I ask, little kids his age should be asleep in bed by now. Well everyone should be, but that was beside the point.

"Because Shukaku will eat me if I do." he said. Now there was just a little bit of fear in his voice. Shukaku? Was this some sort of monster under the bed he was afraid of? What did they teach children to fear if they misbehaved here?

"Well then I won't let him." I stated. I held out my arms and gestured for him to come closer. "Because eating people isn't good. I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to sleep anyways so you can stay and talk with me if you want." he avoided my outstretched arms and sat in front of me, so I could see him. (His chakra I mean.)

"O-ok." he said. "Thank you." and we continued to talk for the rest of the night.

**Authors note: **Originally on my blog this chapter was named Broken Sight and a Healing Hand part 1, but then I realized that it didn't work and so I had to change it. Please leave me a review! They are very much appreciated.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any recognizable characters! All of the awesome characters that you know were created by Kishimoto-sensei!


	8. Chapter 8: Broken SightHealing Hand

It had been two weeks and barely any improvement had been made.

I had received a message from Itachi saying that he had made it back to the Hidden Leaf, which was good. I was glad that he hadn't been attacked on the way back. I was just really sad that I couldn't come back with him.

I was depressed that I was probably not going to train under him anymore, and we hadn't even done any real training yet! If that wasn't a huge let down then I don't know what is. I mean, I was really looking forward to training under him. Think of all the awesome jutsu he would have been able to teach me! But as far as I know, you can't do a one hand sign jutsu unless you have some sort of wicked cool kekkei genkai. Which I obviously did not.

On the plus side, I had at least made a friend here. Gaara tried to visit me every day, and definitely every night. It was something I begun to look forward to in my bleak stay at the Hidden Sand. Although staying up all night every night was probably one of the reasons I was barely improving. Oh well, my dreams won't let me sleep anyways. So his company was a welcome relief.

Another plus about hanging out with Gaara was that he had begun to help me with my lame arm. He helped me move it around and even helped me train with it. he was such a nice kid. I don't think I would know what to do if he wasn't there.

One night (that's what I was assuming it was since he was here) Gaara asked me, "Who is Yui?" I stopped whatever it was I was doing. How did he know about Yui? I looked at his chakra. He quickly said, "You talked about her in your sleep. And about Kasai and Hitabi. I was just wondering, they seem like people that are very dear to you." I was frozen. I talk in my sleep?! Or was that just in nightmares?

I was silent for a very long time. Then I quietly said, "I was always considered a loser." This completely threw Gaara off.

"What?" he asked, bewildered.

"The excuse was always that it was because I was a weakling and hadn't ever been assigned to a squad after graduation because I was so horrible. But that's not what really happened." There was no reply. Only silence. So I continued.

"I had been assigned to a squad. Squad 4. Our team leader was Kasai Orashi. My team mates were Hitabi Tenma and Yui Kinnosuke. For our first mission we had to deliver a message, although I didn't know that because I had arrived late and we were pressed for time. They hadn't even told me when we had stopped for camp. When it was my turn for guard duty I had failed." Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. I stopped for a moment to compose myself before continuing.

"That night I had lost three companions. I had lost Kasai, I had lost Yui, and I had lost myself."

"Yourself? But what about Hitabi?" Gaara asked.

"Give me a minute and I'll explain." I said, lightly scolding him for interrupting. "Yui was my first friend. She was the only one who noticed me really. She noticed how some of the kids picked on me, and she noticed how I didn't have a family to return to everyday. She was the first person to reach out a hand of acceptance."

"When I held her broken, dying body in my arms I began to lose my grasp on reality. If she was gone, who would be there to accept me? Who would be there to welcome me at the beginning of the new day? When her life slipped away in the wind and joined the stars, that was the last straw. I had built up a barrier against the world, and it had stayed up for a long time. But then little by little I had begun to care for the world again and I had become humble, but I was still weak."

"In answer to your question about Hitabi, yes he survived. However I haven't seen him since I had visited him in the hospital. He'd sent me flying the moment he saw me. He yelled at me saying...saying I should have been the one to die instead. He must have really loved Yui to react the way he did."

Gaara stood up. "Wh-why would he say something like that?! To his own team mate?" he huffed angrily.

"People say lots of things in anger and in grief." I said gently, pulling him back down. "I don't blame him for it though. Sometimes I do wish it was me that had died instead."

"Don't think like that!" cried Gaara, standing up again. "If-if you had died instead, then I would never have been able to meet you!" he sniffled. I pulled him back down again.

"Hey I said sometimes. And that was back then." Lies. I still thought that. It wasn't as often as it used to be, but the dark little thought still popped up.

"Gaara, what's it like outside right now?" I asked, changing the subject from such depressing matters.

"It's almost dawn." he said. Uggh. It was almost day time and I couldn't tell the difference. Being blind really sucked.

Suddenly Gaara's chakra was really close to me. "What are you doing?" I asked.

"I have an idea on how to make you un-blind." he answered. I felt a tiny hand cover my eyes.

But just then someone walked in. "EEEEEEYAAKK!" she screamed. "What are you doing?! Get away from her you monster!" Gaara scrambled away from me, terror shaking his chakra. "Get out! Get out! Get out!" she screeched. Gaara kept scrambling away and he dodged the woman's flailing arms.

Once he was gone she turned to me and asked, "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" I yelled at her. "He's just a little boy. Don't call him a monster."

"That boy harbors a demon. He is a monster." she argued.

He harbors a demon? Is this what he meant when he was talking about Shukaku? "So what you're telling me is that because he has a demon inside of him, it makes him a monster? Your logic is flawed. The only one's that are the real monsters are those that call others monsters." and with that I fled from the room in search of Gaara.

"Gaara!" I called. "Gaara!" I couldn't find him, and now I'd become hopelessly lost because I couldn't see any chakra. I turned a corner and heard whimpering. I felt along the walls. There had to be a door around here. It's possible that he could be hiding in one of the rooms. I opened the first door I came across. I heard him crying, but I still couldn't see him.

"Gaara." I whispered. Something shifted and I saw a hint of chakra. I followed it and sat down.

"Go away." he said, his voice muffled by whatever it is he was hiding behind.

"Gaara..." I said helplessly, not knowing what to say. I realized that he had probably been receiving treatment like this his whole life. Every time he always hid, because there was no one there to comfort him. He is like Naruto. The dots began to connect with each other. Naruto was treated the way he was because he too had a demon inside of him. It was the only explanation for the villagers behavior. However they were a bit more discreet about showing their hatred towards him than the people of Suna.

"There is a boy in my village. He's treated the same way you are." I started. Gaara had quieted down enough to listen to me. "Every body in the village hates him. I still don't quite understand why, but I know it has something to do with what's inside of him. But I'm going to try and be his friend, just like I'm going to keep trying to be yours." I began to reach for him. "So if you find that you need comfort, I'll be there for you.* Don't shut me out." I got a hold of his arm and pulled him forward. I held him tightly. He hesitated but soon returned my embrace. I felt his tears flow down his face. I heard his quiet sobs. I felt his pain. In that moment we truly bonded.

After awhile he pulled away from me and dried his tears. He stood up. "Come with me." he said offering me his hand. I accepted. He led me through halls that twisted and turned. Soon we were outside in the cool morning air. The sun was probably already up by now. It felt really good.

"Gaara, what are we going to do?" I asked.

"We're going to play!" he said excitedly. I grinned. Just because I couldn't see didn't mean that would stop us from having fun.

First we played on the swings. It was and interesting experience when your blind. Totally different from when you close your eyes. In a way it was like flying because I couldn't see. It was like a little bit of freedom.

After that Gaara brought out his teddy bear. We played a nice little game with it. I this what if feels like...to play with a younger sibling? It felt so wonderful. I didn't want the feeling to go away.

We wandered the village. Occasionally stopping by a shop to check out their wares, and getting shooed away. It was one of the best days of my life. However it quickly came to an end when we ran into some Sand ninja.

"Look who it is." whispered one of the guys. "It's the monster. And it looks like he's got a victim to sacrifice to that demon." His chakra had malicious intent. Gaara stiffened beside me, the happy aura that had surrounded him a few minutes ago had completely vanished.

"I wonder if they know that I can hear them." I said out loud. "I may be blind but I'm not deaf." The men stopped talking. One of them looked at the other and nodded his head. To me time slowed down long enough for me to see their hands shift towards their kunais. I reached behind me, my arm slipping out of the sling, and grabbed the thing nearest to me. I jumped in front of Gaara and blocked the kunai that was meant for him.

Whatever it was I had grabbed had some metal on it because the kunai screeched across the surface. The man gasped. I pushed him back and blocked the second man's attack as well. "What...are you?" he asked, flabbergasted. "I thought you said you were blind?"

"I am a ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village. And I am a friend of Gaara of the Sand." I boldly stated.

"That..._thing_ has a friend?!" he tried harder to throw me off balance.

"And if you dare try to hurt him, you'll have to go through me!" I continued, ignoring the man's shock. I threw him backwards as well. They charged at me at the same time. I swung my mystery weapon and clubbed them in the head. As soon as they went down I dropped my weapon and grabbed Gaara's hand. Then I bolted off in the opposite direction.

Finally we stopped. I didn't know where we were, but the important thing was that we had escaped those men.

"_Huff...huff...huff_." we panted.

"Did you...really mean...what you said?" wheezed Gaara.

"Of...course I did." I huffed back. "Gaara, you...are my friend!" I smiled at him.

He jumped up and hugged me then he pulled back and said, "Hold still." Then he placed his hand over my eyes. "Release!" he said, and when he pulled his hands away I began to cry. Now it was my turn to hug him.

"Gaara, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He tapped my arms. "Can't...breathe!" he gasped.

I let go of him and fully examined him. He was one of the most adorable kids I had ever seen! He had red hair like me, blue eyes (although he had shadows around them), and a cute smile. The only problem was that his chakra fought for my attention as well.

"How did you do it?" I asked. "How did you bring my sight back?"

"Shukaku..." he hesitated, "Shukaku said he could take away the bad chakra in your eyes." Interesting very interesting. But then another thought popped into my head.

My lame arm was no longer lame. I had been able to use it to defend my friend. I had gained a strong enough purpose that I had willed my arm back to life. I raised it and wiggled my fingers. I giggled. "We have to let the healers know!" I said standing up. I held out my hand. "Let's go! Together!"

_Back in Konoha_:

Itachi sighed as he reread the last report. Two weeks and barely any progress had been made. The last lines hurt the most. "..._You have to face it, Itachi. She's probably never going to recover. She's not going to be able to keep working in her line of duty._" He had been so excited to start training with her. He had been so excited to help teach her her own jutsu. he had planned so many lessons...

He felt slim arms wrap around his waist. "You let your guard down." teased a female's voice. He held her hands. "What's wrong?" she asked after he didn't reply. Something was bothering him really bad.

"She's...she's..."he tried to explain, but the words go stuck in his throat. The girl turned him around and he found himself staring into her navy blue eyes. She took the note from his hand and quickly read through it. She made an angry noise.

"Who are they to just condemn her like that?" she hissed. "Itachi you know what your student is like, she'll pull through!" He kept staring into her eyes, which were now tinged with a defiant anger.

"You're right Katsuku, thank you."

A knock sounded at the door. "Nii-san! Nii-san! There's a letter for you." shouted Sasuke. Quickly striding to the door he opened it enough to get the letter. He opened it up, his hands shaking. He read the letter. Suddenly he collapsed to the floor, weeping uncontrollably. Katsuku ran to him.

"Itachi?! What happened?" she asked frantically. She snatched the letter from his hand and skimmed the contents. "I-Itachi! This is wonderful news! She'll be coming back in a couple of days!" exclaimed Katsuku. He looked up, tears streaming down his face. But his expression wasn't that of a sad person, it was that of a relieved and happy person. He stood up and hugged Katsuku again. He picked her up and spun her around. He kissed her.

"We need to give her a grand welcome back!" he said, the familiar fire back in his eyes.

"Well then. Let's start planning!" said Katsuku.

* * *

**Author's note: **The astrid, there is a certain song where I got the inspiration for that. Go to youtube and search Naruto I Won't Let go, it should be the second video down. Please watch it.

**Author's note 2: **We have a really new character! Her name is Katsuku Uchiha and she is Itachi's girlfriend. She _is not my character. _ This character belongs to my friends Heidi and Dani. I got special permission to use Katsuku for my story. They have a story on here. It's called 'The Man That Disappeared'. Just look at my favorite stories and you should find it there.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any recognizable characters. All Naruto characters belong to Kishimoto-sensei. (I also don't own Katsuku as explained above.)

P.S. Please leave reviews!


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